John Deere Turm

Two million tractors. Can you imagine that many machines, lined up end to end? That’s the legacy of the John Deere factory here in Mannheim. It all started much earlier though, long before the iconic green and yellow tractors became a common sight in fields. We have to rewind back to 1921, when a German company called Heinrich Lanz introduced the world to the HL 12, the world’s first crude oil tractor. This wasn’t just a technological marvel, it was a sign of things to come for Mannheim. Fast forward a few decades, and John Deere, an American company already making waves in the agricultural world, saw the potential of Lanz and acquired the company in 1956. The Mannheim factory, a cornerstone of Lanz’s operations, became a John Deere production powerhouse. The rest, as they say, is history. John Deere continued to innovate and produce in Mannheim, reaching a milestone in 1993: the one-millionth tractor rolled off the production line. It took another 30 years, but in the 21st century, John Deere Mannheim celebrated the production of their two-millionth tractor. The John Deere Turm, though not directly related to tractor production, stands as a symbol of this industrial prowess, a silent sentinel overlooking a city forever linked with agricultural innovation.